Due to some personal obligations I missed tonight's game, but the box score was all kinds of interesting. Apparently Ladislav Smid holding penalties are the secret formula to unlock Oilers' shorthanded goals, and apparently Ethan Moreau really, really, really wants to play in Anaheim.

It also appears that Bobby Ryan has yet to forgive Kevin Lowe for those comments he made about him.

Jonathan Willis is a freelance writer.
He currently works for Oilers Nation, Sportsnet, the Edmonton Journal and Bleacher Report.
He's co-written three books and worked for myriad websites, including Grantland, ESPN, The Score, and Hockey Prospectus. He was previously the founder and managing editor of Copper & Blue.

I'm not even going to play Russion Roulette for fear of the cylinder stopping on an emtpy chamber. FML!
Frickin Horc couldn't even play centre on the Oilernations first line. I'd give that spot to Wanye no doubt.
I play D if you need a guy from the minors of the minors of the minors 16 times over. In other words I suck.

I always that thought that the veteran guys were the ones that showed the new guys how to play the NHL game, but before he left, RS must have taught Horc how to play "Rob Schremp hockey"

Believe me... I don't want the owner making day to day Hockey decisions. I don't want Katz to choose who is to be signed, or waived, or traded: That is the GM's job.

However, as owner of the Edmonton Oiler Hockey Club, Daryl Katz is tasked with the responsibility of hiring/retaining the Oiler management team... Katz needs to assess this existing group and ask himself if this is the group that he wants making important hockey decisions moving forward. If I had that responsibility I would look at the track record of my group as it compares to that of their peers... IMO, it would be easier to make the case that this is the absolute worst management team in the entire league, than to argue for their general competence. The truth, I'm sure, lies somewhere in the middle... Nonetheless: I don't think Oiler managemnt has accomplished enough, or performed well enough to deserve Katz's continued support.

I believe it's time for leadership on the ice to be changed... same goes for off ice leadership.

Schremp (by the numbers anyway) better in his own zone? Obviously he didn't teach Horc EVERYTHING he knows.

Never mind the pistol, hand me the 12 gauge please.

Yup. If some hotshot smart-mouthed prospect came up and put up those numbers and was as inept in his own zone then the team would have no reservations sending him back to the minors. It must be nice for the veterans in the league to know that here in Oilerville they can do pretty much anything and get away with it.

*end mini-rant*

Good for Rob Schremp to find a place in the NHL. Maybe now we as fans can see past the crazy idea that every player needs to be as fast as Cogliano to play in the NHL. We've been supporting that theory for as long as I can remember and it hasnt gotten the Oilers very far.

Hold up! Hold up! I have read SOMEWHERES that the only reason OILers drafted Chorney is because he had a past relationship with Gilbert. I don't know what kind of relationship and I don't want to assume either. Now that you say Chorney likes girls, I'm confused.

I have enough gay friends that I figure this kind of talk is a little off side. Especially days after Brendan Burke's death.

IF Gilbert and Chorney were crazy in love it should make no difference and not be something to be mocked for.

Whew, well that's sure a relief. Now at least we know what the problem was. Tambellini apparently knew all along what the difficulties were with this team and how to fix them, but he was just waiting for Katz to give him the 'green light' so he could spring into action and make it all better.

-The future is bright.

Absolutely. Why, I bet the league awards us 19 points for tonight's pending win against the Kings on style points alone. And wait'll you see who's coming to town in the trade that'll be announced tonight. All the way from Japan; no, can't tell. It's Tambo's big surprise he's been saving; wouldn't want to spoil it.

Edit: Maybe Katz found the secret loophole in the NHL CBA that says that if you finish at least twice as badly as any other NHL team in a given season, you get the first two picks in the entry draft. That would qualify as pretty bright, eh? See, Katz had things under control the whole time. And we were all worried and stuff . . .

I see I'm late to the "Stauffer sounds robotic party", but wow. Katz/Stauffer on two stations at once with an "exclusive" interview where each reads a transcript. Not quite what I was expecting. Too rehearsed; not real enough. Nice timing, by the way.

The lack of a legitimate goaltender is also the biggest single reason for this team's collapse. That lack can be directly traced to Steve Tambellini's decision to sign Khabibulin this summer.

You asked about a mess - I never mentioned Hemsky, but I did mention Khabibulin, and that's Steve Tambellini's fault.

It's winter of 2010.

That's true, and many of the persistent holes in the team in the einter of 2010 can be directly traced back to the summer of 2009.

What about the veteran core we have? How do you know some other veterans would do a better job?

Because the veteran core of every other team in the league is doing a better job?

That's your opinion.

I'm not sure what you're referring to here. If you're referring to my opinion that these things can be traced back to the summer of 2009, then explain to me how the goaltending situation is anyone else but Tambellini's fault. If you're talking about the trades, that's not an opinion it's fact.

I do see the mess, and it's not the same mess you want him to clean up.

I gathered that your suggestion was that the injury issue that mattered was Hemsky not Khabby. My response was that even if Hemmer was playing the team would still stink because of the AHL level goaltending.

If you think missing Khabibulin has less of an impact on this team then missing Hemsky I don't even know what to say, have you been watching the AHL goaltending all season?

"It's winter of 2010."

Tambellini has had this job for around 18 months... that is plenty of time for someone with "hockey smarts" to assess what a team needs and make some moves accordingly... chasing rainbows AKA Dany Heatley all summer or trying to get Neil are just examples of time that could have been better spent trying to fill the obvious holes on our team (shut down forwards / a good stay at home defensemen anyone?)

"What about the veteran core we have? How do you know some other veterans would do a better job?"

I honestly can't tell if this is a real question or if you're just trolling at this point, but the veteran core on this team is one of its biggest problems(imo). Have you seen Horcoffs / Moreaus (and to a lesser extent Staios/Sourays) performance this year? It's been hard to watch.

"I do see the mess, and it's not the same mess you want him to clean up."